The present invention resides in a ventilator usable with an automobile or other similar vehicle for supplying fresh air to and exhausting entrapped air from the vehicle cabin when the vehicle is parked and more particular resides in a ventilator and associated system used integrally with a vehicle structure or as a portable, separate device to provide fresh, cooler air to the vehicle cabin while removing heated air otherwise entrapped within the cabin when the vehicle is parked and left in the sun or other environment which increases the standing temperature of the air in the cabin.
For security reasons, an automobile parked for any period of time requires that doors be locked and the windows be rolled up to deter the possible unwanted entry into the cabin by a potential intruder. However, when the vehicle cabin is enclosed such that the doors are locked and the windows are sealed, air entrapped within this space becomes heated by sunlight passing through the car windows. It has been found that the temperature of the air within the vehicle cabin in such circumstances may exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit thereby making the cabin clearly unsuitable for human occupancy during the period when the vehicle is parked. In addition, animals which usually are left behind in a parked car cannot be confined without fresh, cool air and therefore must be provided with some ventilation in order that they may survive this extreme environment.
As a result, vehicle users normally leave open one or more of the vehicle windows in order that ventilation will be provided within the cabin so that upon returning to the vehicle, the vehicle cabin temperature will not be unbearable or that an animal left inside will not be overcome by this environment. One problem, however, experienced when windows are left partially open is the increased accessibility of the vehicle cabin to entry by a possible intruder. In addition, when animals are left behind in the vehicle, the partially open window provides an avenue by which such animal may escape out of the vehicle cabin and into oncoming vehicle traffic or into an unknown environment. Also, it is common that rain showers erupt unexpectedly in environments where continual heat is common. Rain entering through a partially open window often damages the usually expensive upholstery fabrics covering the walls, seats and dash of the vehicle interior.
Previously know systems have attempted to overcome these problems by installing into the vehicle ventilation system fans which provide ventilation to the cabin when the vehicle is parked. However, these previously known systems have usually always located a blower fan within the extensive ventilation duct work of the vehicle housed under the dashboard assembly and not within the vehicle cabin where the heated air rises and collects thus reducing the efficiency of the system to exhaust the heated air. Also, air drawn through the standard vehicle ventilation duct work by a ventilator fan when the vehicle is parked must travel through the convoluted duct work path and experiences drag for each linear distance moved along the duct work thereby further reducing the capacity of the system to move the heated out of the vehicle cabin.
Such ventilating systems furthermore increase the manufacturing cost of the vehicle to the consumer because the design of the normal ventilating ducts may have to be altered to include the auxiliary feature. Since the operating parts of ventilating systems are physically interdependent on one another, problems arising in the system providing heat and air conditioning may in turn effect the proper functioning of the parked ventilating feature. Conversely, problems developing in the system providing ventilation when the vehicle is parked may alternatively effect the functioning of the normal ventilating system.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a ventilator functioning separately of the vehicle standard ventilation system which may be readily installed in the pre-existing structure of the vehicle or used as a portable device to ventilate the cabin of a parked vehicle while simultaneously preserving the integrity of vehicle cabin from undesired entry.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a self-contained ventilator usable independently having an independently supplied power source such that the ventilator is independent of the vehicle systems.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a ventilator which may be readily installed into the pre-existing structure of a vehicle without affecting significant changes to the vehicle structural design.
Yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a low cost ventilator usable in a vehicle when parked to remove air otherwise entrapped within the vehicle cabin and draw fresh cooler air from the outside environment.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a ventilator so configured as to enable exchange of air between vehicle cabin and the external environment while simultaneously prohibiting rain or other precipitants from entering the cabin through the ventilator.